


Welcome Wagon

by Meztli14



Series: Mirage Series [3]
Category: Captain America (Movies), Captain Marvel (2019), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Avengers: Endgame spoilers, Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 (Movie) Spoilers, Captain Marvel Spoilers, Captain Marvel mid-credits scene, Gen, Post-Captain Marvel, Spoilers, THAT post scene, spoiler - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-09
Updated: 2019-05-11
Packaged: 2019-11-14 15:18:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 7,694
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18055016
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Meztli14/pseuds/Meztli14
Summary: *SPOILERS for ENDGAME* "Where's Fury?"Part of the Mirage Series as a continuation to the alternate ending, but can be read as a stand alone. You don't need to have read the other fics in that series to enjoy this fic.





	1. Chapter 1

**SPOILER ALERT.**   **You have been warned. For those of us who have seen Captain Marvel, this is my one shot of the mid-credit scene. You have no idea how excited it made me. I'm pumped for Endgame. Completely terrified but so excited. Let me know what you guys think of this.**

**UPDATE 5/9/2019: Welcome Wagon is now a part of the Mirage series as a continuation to the alternate ending in Gravity. But it can be read as a stand alone.**

* * *

Standing on the edge of the property Carol studied the building before her. It was unlike anything she had seen last time she was here but she figured that's what happened when someone was gone for over twenty years. The large stylized A on the side made her raise an eyebrow and smirk. The logo was different but it seemed like Fury's love for announcing secret identities upgraded from clothing to full scale buildings. She was gonna enjoy teasing him about it.

Bypassing the security and getting in had been somewhat difficult but she'd managed, glancing at the monitor on her forearm. The signal was definitely coming from somewhere inside.

As she navigated the layout, Carol felt the hairs on the back of her neck rise. The last twenty plus years had been spent helping the Skrulls and taking out Kree but also rediscovering her past and human nature. Her gut feeling Fury had called it. And she was feeling it now as she walked through the empty halls.

A sense of foreboding.

This was a large building, a headquarters of some kind, meant to be a hive of activity by those who ran it and all their subordinates. Yet she hadn't met a single soul.

Eyeing the stairs that lead downward Carol checked her forearm again. She needed to head lower. Lips in a grim line she swiped at the screen. She shut off the signal but left the GPS on to help guide her.

She silently made her way down, fists clenched and at the ready. She was not liking this. It was beginning to feel less and less like a reunion and more like an infiltration.

This new level seemed much like the top floors but instead of just offices behind glass walls there was tech everywhere. A cadence of footfalls had her ducking, just managing to find a wall to hide behind that wasn't see through. Peeking out from her spot she just caught a man dressed in dark clothing walking left at the juncture at the end of the hall, disappearing from view.

Looking ahead Carol spotted another niche she could hide in, so moving as quickly and silently as she could she trotted forward, just wedging herself into her new bolthole as a male voice finished speaking from around the corner in the direction where the unknown male had walked.

"…just stopped doing whatever the hell it was doing."

It was quiet for a moment, no reply to the words spoken but there was a sudden rush of more footfalls. Pressing herself against the wall Carol peeked out, a glowing fist down at her side. But the others that walked past had no idea she was there.

The male that she had seen earlier was leading two people back down the hall where he had come from.

The woman was around Carol's own height with ashy-blonde hair who was also wearing dark clothing. The second male was taller than the first, hair similar in color to hers but a bit darker. He wore a white shirt along with a beard and mustache combo that stretched from sideburn to sideburn.

While she wasn't happy about her time working for the Kree Star Force it helped her to be observant. And she observed that although all three were clearly fighters, soldiers, the other two were different. The bearing straighter, more confidant. These two were the commanders. If not, they were definitely high ranking. And most commanders or senior officers spent their time in the command and communication center.

Carol waited until she couldn't hear them anymore before creeping out from her spot and turning left at the end of the hall. It was only a few feet away but she knew which room it was. Since the walls were made of glass she didn't need to walk in, making it easier to read the hologram displays.

Kenya. China. Australia, Singapore. Brazil. South Africa. Senegal Chile. Bangladesh. Bolivia. Djibouti. Ghana. Chad. Morocco. On and on. She knew this. Nearly all of her memory had returned and she knew what she was reading. These were countries. And apparently a tally of their missing citizens. United States was also a part of the matrix and Carol's stomach dropped. Fury. Maria. Monica.

She turned away, fists clenched as she sauntered angrily in the direction the others had gone. She would get to the bottom of this. She'd find out what these people had done and she'd make them pay.

There was another staircase that she took down one more level and the babble of voices drew Carol and her wrath forward.

"…bypass the battery?"

"We did. It's still plugged in, it just-it just stopped." The same voice from earlier.

"Reboot it. Send the signal again."

Silently stalking forward Carol could see the three from earlier had been joined by another male, the quartet standing around and looking at something. Glancing between bodies she could see Fury's pager was their focus. She bit back the growl threatening to escape.

"Yeah, well we don't even know what this is." This was the new male.

"Fury did."

Carol's eyes narrowed and locked onto the willowy woman. She spoke as if she knew her friend.

The woman continued. "Just do it please. Tell me the second you get a signal. I wanna know who was on the other end of that thing."

Oh she was about to find out exactly who was on the other end.

Carol planted herself firmly, stance and fists at the ready as the female commander turned to face her. The other men stiffened at her appearance as well but Carol only had eyes for the woman.

Keeping her anger from exploding outward was a bit of a challenge but she managed it, her voice slow and tight. "Where's Fury?"

The four stood frozen, eyes wide as they stared. Her rage was getting the best of her at their stunned expressions and she could feel the hum and warmth of the light energy pooling and coiling around her fists, the glowing display drawing an uneasy look from the new male, the two on the right of the woman tensing, ready for a confrontation. But she refused to look away from her quarry.

Eyes glowing from anger Carol took a step forward, her upper lip curling slightly into a snarl. "I said. Where. Is. Fury?"

* * *

**That scene was amazing. One of the best. Let me know what you guys think. See you later! Peace out. -Mez**


	2. Chapter 2

**Funny story. This was only suppose to be a one shot but I ended up forgetting to mark it as complete on fanfiction dot net so people started following it, expecting more. And then my imagination kept going so I'm actually not sure where this will go. The new trailer from the other day did fuel some new scenes so we'll see. Now there are way too many people to thank for kudos but I do wanna say thanks to those who left a comment: HyperactiveLectiolphile, bagheerita, Natashashair, TheDestinyWay1000, and Tetyfernands.  Thanks everyone! Now here is chapter 2 of Welcome Wagon! Once again SPOILERS, and these character do not belong to me.**

* * *

She watched from her peripheral as the other commander lifted his hands to show he was unarmed but also trying to diffuse the situation. "Let's just stay calm–"

"When's that ever worked for us Steve?" The curly-haired man fidgeted, wringing his hands nervously.

"Carol?" This sound of disbelief and recognition came from the male on the far left, the one wearing bracers on his legs.

The ex-Star Force member's eyes depowered but were still fixated on the woman. Which was why Carol could see the surprise that quickly passed over the blonde's features when her name was spoken with familiarity. In fact the other two men snapped their heads to the speaker.

Carol's lips pulled into a half smile, quirking an eyebrow. "Long time no see Jimmy. I thought I recognized you from the back."

"You know her?" The commander, Steve, was looking back and forth between Carol and Jimmy. She remembered his name was James but she preferred Jimmy.

The dark skinned man nodded. "Yeah, but last time I saw her was almost twenty years ago." His voice gave a hint of confusion. She was sure he was suspicious of her youthful features.

"So who is she?"

Carol refused to look away from the woman but wagged a finger at her question. "Not so fast. As soon as you tell me where Fury is and what's going on then maybe I'll talk."

"Without answering my question?" The blonde challenged back, her jaw setting stubbornly.

Carol smiled, shrugging her shoulder. "I did though. You wanted to know who was on the other end of the pager. And now you know. But let's be real, you already knew that."

Her uniform matched in color with the piece of technology so there was no way they didn't know it had summoned her. And if they didn't, then she had really overestimated them.

The other woman crossed her arms. "That doesn't tell me who you are. Or who you were to Fury."

Carol's fists tightened. "'Were?'"

"Fury's gone."

The other three, even the woman, turned to look at Jimmy with various reprimands of his name but she ignored them, her focus back on the airman. Or maybe former airman considering his braces.

"Guys relax, I can vouch for her. Carol's good."

While Jimmy's words had settled them they still weren't at ease. She couldn't necessarily blame them. Instead she focused back to the more pressing issue. "What do you mean by gone?"

Jimmy let out a sigh. "This…alien came to Earth, hoping to take something from a friend of ours, to add to his collection. A shiny yellow rock called the Mind Stone. It was one of a set of six others, super powerful, called–"

"The infinity stones?" Carol could feel the dread pooling in her stomach. She did not like where this was going.

Four sets of eyes turned to her.

"You know them?" The curly-haired man looked apprehensive.

"Only in stories. Go on."

"Yeah, the infinity stones. Earth's had a couple in the past. There was a big fight with these…generals of his and some crazy, black and yellow things with arms…"

Outriders. She refused to call them space dogs.

"…At one point in the fighting, wherever the hell he had been, he came to Earth with all the other five and took the last one from out friend. That's when shit hit the fan."

Carol gritted her teeth. "What's his name?"

"Thanos." The curly-haired man's voice was soft but she could hear the haunting quality to it.

"What was his plan with the stones?"

"Mass culling." The woman spoke. "He did exactly what he said he'd do. He wiped out fifty percent of all living creatures. Just gone, into dust. We can only assume the effect was universal."

Her stomach dropped and the glow within her body dissipated. Letting out a ragged breath Carol lifted her arm and swiped her fingers across the screen on her uniform's forearm. A blinking light lit up, accompanied by a quiet beep each time it flashed. On her last visit she had modified three cell phones to work with her Kree-based technology. That way she could keep in touch with Maria, Monica, and Fury when she was off planet. Right now she had put out a signal to all three devices.

She stared as the light and chime continued, ignoring the sympathetic vibes from the others in the room.

"Come on, come on." Carol muttered as she waited. After almost ten, very tense, seconds she angrily cut the signal but tried another. This one would take a second before connecting, considering the connectee was several galaxies away. Finally the screen confirmed the link and she only had to wait a few blinking seconds before it was answered

"Talos?" Carol asked, hating the hint of desperation. It was quiet before a light, shaken voice answered her.

"Ca-Carol?"

She hung her head, hearing the sob at the end from Talos' wife. "Yeah it's me Soren."

More sobbing was heard over the line, the others leaving the room to give Carol privacy. "They're gone! Gone, Carol. Talos. Our-our daughter. Others, some-some of the others are gone. I don't know what's happening! I don't know what to do!"

"I'm so sorry Soren. I'm sorry but I'm gonna figure it out, okay? I have a lead I'm checking out so stay together with the others, alright?"

Soren took a few deep hitching breaths over the line before coming back. "O-okay. Okay. Yeah, okay. Thank you Carol."

"Stay safe."

With that the signal cut off and Carol stood frozen for a second, processing all that Jimmy and his friends had told her but also confirmation from Soren that whatever this Thanos had done, it had reached everywhere.

"Carol?" Jimmy and the others were slowly trickling in, wary and sympathetic. She didn't want to be here right now. No. What she wanted was proof. She turned from the others, tracing back the same way she'd come, ignoring the yells that prompted her to break out into a run. And she didn't stop until she reached outside the building and took flight.

* * *

**Yeah, still have no idea what I'm doing. For those of you who don't know but have now figured out, Soren was Talos' wife in Captain Marvel. Hopefully you guys enjoyed this. Let me know alright? See you later! Peace out. -Mez**


	3. Chapter 3

**So I've watched Endgame and I will be incorporating spoilers from the movie, so if you HAVE NOT SEEN ENDGAME, DO NOT CONTINUE. However I've only seen Endgame twice so the spoilers I'm using are based off my memory of the viewings and any other spoiler videos lurking on youtube so chances are I'll probably get some things wrong. Also, I have decided to make this story part one in my continuation of the alternate ending to the fic Gravity, within my Mirage series, BUT Welcome Wagon can be read as a stand alone, so don't worry. Let's go.**

* * *

It was several hours before Carol returned to the large building housing Jimmy and his friends. It was nearing the end of the day, a little after four to be exact, and she'd needed time to search out Maria and Monica.

Maria still resided in Louisiana but her home had been deserted, the plants hanging from baskets and nestled in pots around the house completely wilted from neglect or empty with only a layer of gray ash left behind. She'd tracked down the spot where Maria had been lounging in the living room, the only evidence being an empty cup of an evaporated drink on the coffee table and dust particles embedded in the couch.

After Goose's brief stint at the house all those years ago Marie had warmed up to the idea of a cat, so she had gone out and adopted a calico that Monica had named Duckie, to keep up the tradition. Carol had called for the cat after discovering Maria's remains but the feline hadn't appeared. Either she'd been taken the same way as her owner had or she'd gone feral.

Carol's next stop was Daytona Beach, Florida where she knew Monica had last been. The eleven year old had accomplished what she said she'd do and had gotten into Embry Riddle Aeronautical University. It had been one of Carol's happiest memories. The young adult had quickly climbed the ranks, her Mother and Aunt's profession giving her an edge, and she'd graduated with top marks.

Monica had ended up settling in Florida with several trips a month back home, and that was where Carol had gone, visiting the house her niece had bought some five years ago. It too was empty. But Carol hadn't admitted defeat and she'd gone to her work. The whole building had been deserted. She'd had no way of knowing if Monica was really gone or not. She'd tried calling the modified phone again but still nothing.

So she'd remotely turned on the beacon and tracked it down.

To a mangled car forgotten in a lot surrounded by other vehicles that had been destroyed mid-drive. The phone was laying down in the footwell, flipped open and abandoned.

She couldn't get out of Florida fast enough.

Even though Jimmy had said that Fury was gone, Carol couldn't quite accept it. It was the reason she had been calling three numbers and not two back at the main building. And during flight she kept recalling the same number. Finally she'd turned on the beacon.

It was back the way she'd come. The coordinates the same as where she had left. Jimmy and his friends must have grabbed it when they found the pager.

Carol made the decision to head back but did a quick detour. There was someone else she had needed to check on.

And now she was back. To the big building with the giant A on the side and Jimmy waiting for her at the door.

"You check on the Rambeau's?"

She paused. "Did you know?"

He gave a small nod. "Maria faded with all the others but Monica…Monica was driving on the highway when it happened; got side-swiped by an empty SUV. She was okay for a few minutes but then more drivers started fading away and it got bad. At those speeds? The second hit was instant."

Carol gritted her teeth, angry at his tone of voice, angry that he wasn't as upset as her but she pushed it back. He'd had time to process the death of their friends while she was hearing it fresh.

The opened cell phone made sense. Monica must have known something was wrong and tried to call her. Except she didn't get a chance to complete it.

Carol continued through the building, retracing her steps, Jimmy a presence next to her. "What is this place? And the people here?"

He looked around. "Our base of operations I guess. Or it was before everything went crazy. There were more of us but the others faded away when Thanos snapped his fingers. We're not sure what happened to some others."

"Hmm." She didn't quite know what to say to that. She picked something else to distract him. "And I bet the giant A outside is a way to announce yourself. Isn't it?" She raised an eyebrow and let a tiny smirk curl her lips.

He gave a chuckle. "Yeah, Tony loves subtlety. It stands for Avengers."

Carol almost paused. She remembered the pictures from when she first got here. "And who came up with that?"

"Fury. He called the project the Avengers Initiative."

She let out a laugh. Of course he did.

It was quiet for a few seconds before Jimmy spoke again. "I gotta ask…what's with the cat?"

Carol smirked, wondering when he was gonna bring that up. She stopped in the middle of the hallway to place the carrier on the floor and opened the door. Slick, orange fur sauntered out. She looked good for her age. "This is Goose."

Of course, as a Flerken, she lived much longer than an actual cat. By her species' standard, being thirty something was fairly young still.

"Goose?" Jimmy's voice was curious as he watched the disguised creature rub up against Carol's leg, strong purring rumbling through her tiny body.

"Yeah," Carol gave the Flerken a quick scratch on the forehead and under the chin before picking up the carrier and the human pair continued on, Goose walking along on her other side. "She belonged to a friend of mine and Maria's from the old base. She'd passed away and Goose kinda became the office cat. When I came back the first time and partnered with Fury she pretty much tagged along. And when it was time for me to leave Fury took her in. I swung by to check if she was still alive and brought her back with me. Think it'll be a problem?"

Jimmy shook his head. "Doubt it. It'd probably be nice to have her around."

They managed a peaceful silence while walking down the stairs and heading back where she had first discovered everyone but she knew he was gonna be curious and try to ask something else.

"So…that night? The orange glow wasn't just my imagination."

Definitely not the question she thought he was gonna ask. Well, she knew they wanted to know why she glowed but she didn't anticipate him asking about it in that context.

She gave an unapologetic shrug. "I got a little carried away. Sorry if it freaked you out." She turned to smirk at him. "I won't do it again."

Jimmy looked flustered. "No, it was…it didn't freak me out. It's fine. You can…I mean, I don't know if you…never mind. It's fine. Just…I was curious about how you can glow in general. Not just that one time."

"What one time?"

Jimmy gave a start while Carol finally acknowledged the blonde woman who had been around the corner for the past few seconds. The female commander was very good at sneaking around, Carol would never have noticed if Goose hadn't perked up when they got closer to the end of the hall so she figured someone was close by.

Jimmy shook his head at the question. "Nothing. The others around?"

The blonde woman quirked an eyebrow at his deflection, no doubt noticing how ruffled he seemed and Carol smirked as Jimmy fidgeted under the green-eyed gaze.

The other woman hummed under her breath. "Yeah. Just waiting on you two." She looked over at Carol. "I know we had a rough introduction but I'm Natasha Romanoff."

Carol perked up. "Really? The famous Black Widow. I thought you were red-headed?" Natasha tried to hide it but Carol could see how suspicious she became. "Relax, Fury told me about you. About Barton and Coulson. He was pretty proud of you guys. They here too?" It had been many, many years since she'd last seen the agent that had let her and Fury escape that one time. It'd be nice to properly meet him.

Carol must of hit a nerve if the tightness around Natasha's lips was any indication. Of course. "We lost Coulson on the job and…and we're not sure what happened to Barton."

Carol nodded, not sure what to say to that. Fury had been quite proud of the archer, even with the head aches he gave the older man. And he had told her all about how efficient Coulson was and how he'd quickly risen through the ranks.

"I do have one question before we go in." Her voice seemed a touch amused. Natasha's gaze lowered to the floor. "Who's your friend?"

Carol looked down, seeing Goose sitting primly at her feet, head swiveling back and forth between the humans. She smiled. "This is Goose, an old friend of mine. She was by herself at Fury's place so I picked her up and brought her here. I hope that's not a problem?"

Carol wasn't sure what caused the wide eyed look to pass over Natasha's face but she recovered quickly, easing down to scratch under Goose's chin. "I think that'd be fine. We could do with some morale around here. Plus I know it's gonna bother Tony."

With that Natasha turned and led the way to the command center, the same that Carol had spied on earlier. This time it wasn't empty.

The other two men from before were there, Steve and the curly-haired man with glasses. Another stood at the back of the room, taller than Steve with arms crossed and shorn dark blonde hair dressed in jeans and a jacket. And was that a talking raccoon walking on the table?

The anthropomorphic animal glanced over at their entrance cutting off whatever he was saying to the tall unknown man by suddenly reaching behind himself and revealing the laser cannon enlarging in his tiny hands as he took aim, all the while roaring to the room, "What the hell is that  **thing**  doing in here?!"

Chaos ensued.

Carol immediately lit up, deflecting the blast that had been meant for Goose as the orange tabby escaped between her legs. The others in the room leapt into action.

Steve was holding up a chair, catching a couple more blasts that were sent Carol's way along with cries of 'Kill it with fire!' Natasha held a gun, aim straight and steady on the armed animal while the curly haired man peaked out from behind a sofa, eyes wary. Finally the larger unknown male ripped the cannon out of the creature's hands telling the raccoon, apparently named Rocket, to stop.

At her side Jimmy had his hands up, a metal gauntlet encasing each arm and glowing with power. He had both aimed at the angry creature. "Let's all calm down."

A weight dropped on her shoulders, claws digging into her uniform, and all Carol could hear in one ear was angry feline rumbling and a hiss directed at Rocket.

The raccoon glared, snarling back. "Yeah, why don't you come over here and say that to my face!"

Steve made to stand between the two camps. "Rocket, knock it off! It's a cat."

The enraged animal pulled at his face in frustration. "No, it's not! It's a  **Flerken**. There is a Flerken! In! This! Room!"

"Rocket…"

"He's actually telling the truth."

All eyes swiveled to Carol. She'd stopped glowing when Rocket's gun had been taken away and was now leaning against the wall, Goose balanced across her shoulders. "Goose is actually an alien creature known as a Flerken. They look like Earth cats but–"

"But they're nothing like whatever you call 'cats.'" Interrupted Rocket. He started pacing, glaring over at Goose. "They're dangerous. We gotta kill it."

"She spent over three decades on Earth and hasn't caused any problems. It'll be fine."

It looked like Rocket was gonna fire off something to Carol's comment but he was cut off by the hand on his shoulder.

"Relax Rabbit." The fourth man, his voice deep with what sounded like a British accent, loomed over the raccoon. Carol was loosing her touch. She hadn't even noticed the steady dual-colored gaze he had been giving her. "I understand that you knew Fury and you know Colonel Rhodes. I'm actually quite interested in how they would know a Kree Star Force member."

"What?" This came from the three humans in the room while Rocket did a double take at her, eyeing her uniform before trying to climb up and over the British sounding man to reach the cannon in the far hand.

"Gimme my gun!"

"Do you want me to tell you or not?" The room grew quiet but she kept her eyes on the large man. "You wanted to know who I am, how Fury or Jimmy know me, right?"

The rest of the group was quiet. Finally Natasha spoke. "I'm not gonna lie. We tried asking Friday to look you up based on what Rhodey knew of you but interestingly she's, for some reason, off line."

Carol blinked. "Oh right." She lifted her forearm and pressed at several buttons on her interface. "That should do it."

The others waited a second before Steve called out. "Friday?"

"Captain, there's an intruder, should I terminate?" The woman's voice sounded a bit put out. The AI she hadn't been expecting but shutting her down had been easy enough. Seems she didn't like that.

"No, but can you look up a Carol Danvers?"

"Right away Captain."

Carol waited for the results. She could tell them herself but she was actually pretty curious what the file would say.

"Here you go Captain." The Irish voice's announcement was paired with various screens coming to life above the table, Rocket jumping off and the rest of the group looking at the display before them.

Carol looked over the photos as they hovered. There was one from her old driver's license and military ID. The picture from her graduation was there. Most of the photos were formal in some way and from eighty-nine or earlier. Except for Monica's Myspace.

Carol had timed one of her visits to correspond with Monica's twenty-first birthday, definitely something she didn't want to miss. The photo of them together amongst the others was one Monica had taken during the celebration. Carol and Marie had taken her for her first legal drink at Pancho's. It was also the night she'd met Jimmy.

"You were in the military?"

She looked over at Steve, nodding. "A Captain in the Air Force."

"Says here you died in a flight test." Natasha was looking at some record, it actually looked like the same one Carol and Fury had found when she first came back to Earth.

"It started as a flight test but turned into a dog fight. See I was born and bred one hundred percent red blooded Earth woman and I had never really considered life beyond our planet until that day in eighty-nine. I was test flying a new engine designed and created by one of my scientists, Doctor Lawson, when we came under fire from an unknown craft. I didn't know until years later it was a Kree Star Force ship that had been hunting down the Doc, who turned out to be a Kree deflector named Mar-Vell."

"She used the energy of something called the Tesseract to create a new light speed engine that would actually end the unjust war between the Kree and Skrulls who just wanted to live in peace and not under Kree rule. But during the fight we were shot down and Lawson said she needed to destroy the engine before the Kree could get to it. Except she was killed by Yon-Rogg, one of the Star Force members, before she could. I talked to the guy for a few minutes, tried to stall, but when he threatened to kill me, I knew he would probably find the engine. So I distracted him long enough to destroy it. Except something happened."

Carol paused in her explanation, lifting a fist and letting the proton energy surge, her hand glowing orange. She looked over the rest of the room. "I was too close to the blast but instead of dying I ended up absorbing the engine's power source. I was knocked out by the explosion and the Kree took me back with them when they realized I sucked up all that raw energy. And when I woke up with no memory, they took full advantage." Carol saw the twitch Steve gave, along with quick glances at him from the others. Interesting.

She continued on. "They gave me a transfusion of Kree blood and made me think my amnesia was a result of a Skrull attack. Once I was recovered enough I was placed on Star Force where they trained me and used me. For years they had me doing their dirty work, making it seem like their way of life was the right one and that the Skrulls were the bad guys, shapeshifters that infiltrated and destroyed planets. It went on like that until some Skrulls got a hold of me, matching my voice on the black box from the crash."

"They were trying to find Lawson and they ended up bringing a few of my memories back, that's when I started freaking out. Started doubting. Then I came to Earth, teamed up with Fury and found out the truth. We defeated Yon-Rogg and the Star Force, booted Ronan back to Hala, and when that was said and done, I helped the Skrulls escape with their families. Who Lawson had hide away in her laboratory which was actually a Kree space cruiser orbiting Earth the entire time. But I left Fury a way to contact me if he needed help, for emergencies. And so here we are."

It was quiet which she expected considering all she had unloaded on them. Natasha spoke first, slight frown on her face. "I need to ask. If you gave Fury a way to contact you, for emergencies, then where have you been? We've had several emergences, did you just ignore him?"

Carol raised an eye brow. It was a valid question, at least from their perspective. "Well, for one, there a whole lot of other planets out there and they didn't have their own special team of fighters to defend their home. And secondly, I know about those emergences. The Chitauri. Ultron. Fury told me afterward each time. And I asked him each time why he didn't contact me to help. You know what he said? He told me what for, he had you."

That seemed to silence them for a second. That second was all it took for another window to pop up on the screens and Friday's voice to return. "Captain, I just received over twenty voice transmissions from beyond Earth."

That was interesting. Carol was quite curious, considering how far behind Earth was in universal communications. Unless it was by chance that the messages just happened to be picked up by the satellites.

"Can you tell from who or what, Friday?"

A pause. "…They're all from Boss."

That sent everyone into a flurry and Carol was able to figure out that 'Boss' was actually Tony, Jimmy's friend and the one who had disappeared into space. There was just one problem.

Natasha leaned forward. "What do you mean you can't play them?"

Friday answered back in her Irish lilt. "They were all messages sent and meant for Miss Potts and as per my privacy directives I am unable to play you the messages without her permission."

"Rhodey?" spoke Steve, turning to Jimmy. "Think you can ask her?"

Jimmy didn't need to ask anything considering the sudden pounding of running feet and soon a red-haired woman came bursting in, tears down her face. She was also hugging a red and gold helmet with one arm against her chest. She completely ignored everyone, instead latching onto one of Jimmy's upper arms in a white knuckled grip.

"Tony! It's Tony!"

Jimmy got her to settle down enough for the woman, Pepper, to explain that the Iron Man helmet had a received an alert a few minutes ago, a backlog of over twenty messages from Tony. The latest one had been created a few hours ago. But there was another problem.

"You can't trace it?"

"My systems aren't quite advanced enough, especially tracking something that far in deep space. Sorry Captain."

"Thor? Rocket? What about you two?" Natasha had poised this question to the raccoon and the unknown male. "Think you can figure out a way to trace the signal?"

The two looked at each other. Thor replied first. "Although Asgard was much more technologically advanced, I was never good at it. I would have no idea what to do."

Rocket waved a hand around. "I could easily do it but all the equipment here ain't advanced enough."

"What about using this?" Carol lifted her forearm, showing off the interface.

Rocket's eyes lit up, a smirk curling his lips. "That'll work."

* * *

**Sorry about the ending. I'm not really satisfied by it but we need to keep the ball rolling. Probably only one more chapter left. Also, some of you might be upset or have questions about Carol and Rhodey. Now canonically, Carol Danvers did indeed date Rhodey so I wanted to bring that in but if you go back to Ironman 3, when Tony asked 'You ever had a chick straddling you and you look up and suddenly she's glowing from the inside out, kind of a bright orange?' and Rhodey says 'Yeah I've had that.' That's why I wrote about something happening between them one of the times Carol visited Earth. See y'all later. Peace out. -Mez**


	4. Chapter 4

**This is it. The end. Once again this is technically a part of my Mirage series but it can be read as a stand alone. More like my idea of how certain events in Endgame came about. Filling in the holes. It was fun, hope everyone enjoyed it. If you are readers to the Mirage series, I'll try getting the next installments done soon, at least the first chapters to both of the endings. But other than that, let's go.**

* * *

It hadn't taken Rocket long. He'd used a few wires to connect the helmet Pepper had brought to the Kree interface and within a few minutes had found where the signal was coming from. Or in reality where the signal  **had**  come from.

Considering the number of light years between Earth and Tony, chances were that wherever in space Rocket had tracked the signal, the ship was already long gone. Especially if they were drifting. There was worry amongst Jimmy and his friends when Rocket had told them that bit of information. Tony had said the air was running out and it'd been hours since that recent message had been recorded.

However Carol had reassured them that time worked differently in space and on other planets than it did on Earth. Even if a couple days passed, it would only seem like a few hours in deep space.

The failure didn't deter Rocket. If anything it had given the raccoon another idea.

He'd forgone the Earth tech, as it wasn't up to bar with the rest of the universe, and instead used the interface to connect with his friend Quill's ship, which he was sure was the same one Tony had referenced in his messages. Since both craft and interface were technologically advanced this tracing would be more accurate and sure enough he'd managed to track the ship in real time. Which led to this moment.

"Be ready for whatever kind of medical condition he'll be in." Carol advised, poking at the screen attached to her forearm. Rocket had activated the beacon in the ship so Carol would be able to track down the vessel.

"We got Bruce on stand by." Jimmy spoke.

Carol looked up, his face grim, and she nodded. She remembered all the stories Jimmy had told her of Tony and she wanted to bring his best friend back. The strawberry blonde woman, apparently Tony's fiancée, stood next to the retired airman but she suddenly reached a hand out to grab Carol's wrist.

"Please." Pepper whispered, her voice watery. Carol could see the tears building up, threatening to overflow. "Bring him home."

Carol squared her shoulders, resolve hardening in the face of Tony's pleading wife-to-be. "I will."

~~~WW~~~

Carol halted mid-flight, eyeing the drifting vessel before her. She took another glance at her interface. The beacon indicated this was the right ship. Easing forward she floated toward the viewing window, spying the bearded man slumped against one of the chairs.

He looked like the picture of Tony Jimmy had showed her but he was more scraggly in appearance and much thinner than any person should be. But that was usually what happened when you went without food or water for extended periods of time.

She could see the moment he sensed her, maybe her glowing proton energy roused him but the man twitched, waking further and lifting a hand to ward off her light. Finally his sight seemed to adjust, putting his hand down and Carol could see the slightly dazed look as she drifted closer. She let up on the glow, enough for him to make out her features and she watched his eyes grow wide. She gave a smile and nod at him, trying to show she was friendly and meant no harm.

She glanced around the cockpit but couldn't see the blue woman Nebula Tony had referenced. She had to be elsewhere. Maneuvering underneath the vessel Carol looked for the hatch Rocket had spoken of. It was a small chamber with two doors, used more for maintenance during flight. One would enter, seal off the inner door, then open the exterior to go out into open space. He'd said it would be next to the ramp.

Finding the knob, Carol turned it twice before the lock released and she slipped in, sealing the door behind her. She felt around the wall, giving a firm push to pop open the panel for the decontamination unit.

The satchel at her back had various objects for this mission including two transfer cables that Rocket had packed. Connecting the wires to the power cell Carol delicately fed her proton energy into the system. Before Tony's alterations she could have jump-started the vessel but she wasn't too sure what would happen if she did that now.

A green light lit up and Carol pressed the button next to it, keeping up the power transfusion as white clouds of gas filled up the chamber. The smoke was meant to sanitize, killing off any bacteria or other nefarious organisms that might to cling to whoever had ventured outside the ship. Her proton glow actually did this job even better but considering Tony's heath she figured it was a safe back up plan.

Once the smoke dissipated Carol replaced the panel, tucked the wires away and activated her helmet. She hadn't needed to use it since fully coming into her powers but considering the low oxygen level in the ship she didn't want to use up any more of Tony's supply.

Opening the hatch Carol climbed up, freezing half way out when she was met with what looked like a concussive energy blaster attached to a person. Various tones of blue for skin and black voids for eyes. Rocket's description matched. This had to be Nebula.

"Who are you? What do you want?"

The cybernetic woman's voice was firm, gravelly, and Carol detected a touch of protectiveness. Spending more than twenty days with a person after surviving such an devastating event would bond anyone.

Carol lifted her arms to show she was unarmed. "My name's Carol Danvers. I'm actually here to rescue you and Tony."

Nebula flinched, her arm giving off a whirl as it slowly powered up. But the sound cut off when a voice echoed through the ship.

"How do you know me?" Tony finally stepped into view, blanket around his shoulders. Carol spied Nebula slowly shifting position, standing partially in between the two humans. Tony edged closer. "Who sent you?"

She remembered the words Jimmy had given her for this moment. They didn't make sense to her, and she'd certainly given him a curious look, but he'd said it would be all she needed to tell Tony. "Honey Bear asks how was the fun-vee?"

Tony nearly stumbled in his hurry to reach Carol, Nebula making sure to be somewhat between them.

"Rho-Rhodey? He's-"

"Alive," confirmed Carol. "And waiting for me to bring you back home."

Tony started trembling and gaping, trying to grasp the situation. It was understandable; he had been resigned to the fact that he was going to die in a few short hours. Now rescue was imminent and he was sure to have questions. But first things first.

Carol pointed to the row of seats against the way. These were used for passengers and had harnesses. "Before we go though, let's get you taken care of. I brought something to help for the ride home."

While Nebula helped Tony get settled and strapped in Carol reached for her bag. Bruce had given her something to help with the low oxygen problem. She drew close, pulling the small case from the satchel. The doctor had told her it was a portable oxygen concentrator which was all she really needed to know. She turned the device on, letting it start up while she worked the tubing around Tony's ears and placed the nasal cannula properly.

"Slow breathes." Carol advised as she watched his eyes widen and he hungrily took in the fresh air. She turned to Nebula, thinking of the second unit in her bag. "You need one?"

The cybernetic woman shook her head in the negative. "No, that issue was taken care of years ago."

Carol shrugged, ignoring that tidbit of information and finally letting her helmet retract, blonde hair falling to her shoulders. Tony seemed surprised by her appearance. He furrowed his eyebrows. "You human or maybe one of the Asgardian refugees that Point Break talked about? Or some thing else?"

"Human." Carol paused, shrugging and smirking slightly. "More or less." Jimmy had said he was intelligent and the Kree hybrid could see the questions churning in his head. She lifted a finger to stop him. "Not important right now. I'm sure Fury's got all that information in a file somewhere you can read." And didn't that lit up Tony's eyes further. "But first we need to get you home so you can read it."

She nodded at Nebula as the other woman strapped herself in next to Tony. "Keep an eye on him. It shouldn't take long to reach Earth." She headed back to the maintenance passage but was stopped once she opened the door.

"Danvers." Tony was staring at her and she could see the relief in the very way he was slumped against the seat. "Thank you."

She nodded at him. "I had a promise to keep." She turned away and jumped down into the chamber to get back outside.

She had a fiancé to return.

* * *

**There you go. My version of how I think Carol's return to Earth went and how she rescued Tony. Let me know what you guys think! See ya later. Peace out. -Mez**


End file.
